NEW ORLEANS – The Daily Bruin took home 46 awards at the Fall National College Media Convention, including several recognizing coverage of campus pro-Palestine demonstrations.

The Associated College Press and the College Media Association honored student journalists and student media advisors at the convention, which took place from Wednesday to Saturday in New Orleans. Student journalists attended workshops and panels at the conference, which discussed issues such as freedom of the press, legal considerations in policy setting and protest coverage.

The Daily Bruin staff, led by Editor-in-chief Isabelle Friedman during the 2023-2024 academic year, received 16 ACP Pacemaker awards and 30 CMA Pinnacle awards.

“We’re going to continue the momentum we have going here,” said ACP associate director Gary Lundgren in a speech before announcing the Pacemaker awards. “Let us recognize some outstanding college journalism – really, the best of the best.”

The Bruin accepted several organizational awards, including first place in both the Best College Media Group of the Year and Best News Website Front Page categories and second place for Daily Newspaper of the Year among outlets that publish two to five days per week at the CMA awards.

Staffers across The Bruin were acknowledged for their role in recording the pro-Palestine protests and encampments that occurred at UCLA from April to June. The Bruin earned first place in Best Multi-Outlet Breaking News Coverage in the CMA’s inaugural announcement of the category for its tagpage, “SJP AND UC DIVEST COALITION DEMONSTRATIONS AT UCLA.”

Three stories, “Pro-Israel counter-protesters attempt to storm encampment, sparking violence,” “Hundreds of protesters detained after police breach pro-Palestine encampment at UCLA” and “‘I thought I was going to die’: UCLA encampment protesters recall April 30 attack,” each earned nods from the ACP, and “Pro-Palestine encampment features teach-ins, speeches as counter-protesters engage” was recognized by the CMA.

Photographers also placed first in Photo Slideshow and second in Best Breaking News Photo for “Gallery: Counter-protesters attack; police clear pro-Palestine encampment at UCLA.”

Staff also earned first-place Pinnacle awards for an investigation into student dissatisfaction with UCLA’s Center for Accessible Education, “‘It’s just a fact’: Understaffed CAE office fails to meet students’ needs,” and for a profile on a student who took over ownership of his family’s restaurant in Santa Monica after the passing of his mother, “Cooking up community: The UCLA student behind Poom Thai Cuisine.” The latter story also earned an honorable mention in the Ernie Pyle Human Interest Profile category for the Pacemakers. News editor Dylan Winward received an honorable mention for Reporter of the Year.

The Bruin’s Sports section earned third place in Best Web Sports Section – the second year in a row it has placed in the category – while also securing first place in Best Print Sports Section. “Inside the culture that defines UCLA gymnastics’ viral floor routines” placed in both the ACP’s and CMA’s Multimedia Sports Story categories.

Former Sports senior staffer and alumnus Jack Nelson also earned third place for his column, “Nelson’s Noggin.”

Designers won first place in the Best Newspaper Sports Page/Spread category for “Clash of the Quarterbacks” and Best Magazine Contents Page/Spread for “Fall 2023 | Contents.”

Bruin staffers also took home honorable mentions at the Pinnacle awards in the Best Newspaper News Page/Spread category for the April 26 front page and in Best Magazine Sports Page/Spread for “Not Just Athletes.”

Several staffers were acknowledged for video and audio multimedia content. “Inside the Westwood Homeless Count” earned fourth place in the ACP’s Broadcast Commentary and second place in the CMA’s Best Video Newscast categories. The Out of Bounds series – in which Bruin staffers analyze and discuss UCLA sports news – received third place in Best Audio Sportscast for “Out of Bounds: Was DeShaun Foster the right choice to replace Chip Kelly at UCLA” and Best Video Sportscast for “Out of Bounds: Should Chip Kelly be fired after UCLA’s Loss to Arizona?”.

The Bruin was a finalist in the Newspaper/Newsmagazine Pacemaker category for the first time in three years, as well as for the Multiplatform Pacemaker, which evaluates the strength of a publication’s work across all media platforms.

The Bruin received 42 awards at the convention last year.

[Related: Daily Bruin wins 42 awards at student media convention in Atlanta]

The full list of awards received in New Orleans is as follows:

Associated Collegiate Press

• Winner – Photo Slideshow: Jeremy Chen, Myka Fromm, Nicolas Greamo, Zoraiz Irshad, Zimo Li and Brandon Morquecho for “Gallery: Counter-protesters attack; police clear pro-Palestine encampment at UCLA”
• Third place – Breaking News Story: Matthew Royer for “Prosecution granted retrial on all hung counts in James Heaps case”
• Third place – In-Depth News Story: Catherine Hamilton for “‘I thought I was going to die’: UCLA encampment protesters recall April 30 attack”
• Third place – Podcast: Jack Garland for “Bruin to Bruin: Meyer Luskin”
• Fourth place – Broadcast Commentary: Max Davis-Housefield and Victoria Marchetti for “Inside the Westwood Homeless Count”
• Honorable mention – Reporter of the Year: Dylan Winward
• Honorable mention – Breaking News Story: Catherine Hamilton and Matthew Royer for “Hundreds of protesters detained after police breach pro-Palestine encampment at UCLA”
• Honorable mention – Multimedia News Story: Anna Dai-Liu and Dylan Winward for “Pro-Israel counter-protesters attempt to storm encampment, sparking violence”
• Honorable mention – Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Reporting: Bryana Plata for “Minority-serving institution designations and their implications at UCLA”
• Honorable mention – Local Climate Change Reporting: Myra Hussain for “Researchers warn of potential rise in extreme weather in Westwood”
• Honorable mention – Ernie Pyle Human Interest Profile: Alicia Carhee and Sam Mulick for “Cooking up community: The UCLA student behind Poom Thai Cuisine”
• Honorable mention – Multimedia Sports Story: Isabelle Friedman for “Inside the culture that defines UCLA gymnastics’ viral floor routines”
• Honorable mention – Broadcast Feature Story: Nora Gallagher and Crystal Trinh for “OK Room” cq11 under broadcast feature story OK
• Honorable mention – Comic Strip/Panel: Sydney Kysar for “Editorial Cartoon: ‘Bruin Voices for Change’”
• Best of show, ninth place – Newspaper/Newsmagazine Design: Lindsey Murto
• Best of show, 10th place – Newspaper/Newsmagazine (four-year campus, more than 15,000): Daily Bruin staff

College Media Association

• Winner – Best College Media Group of the Year: Daily Bruin staff
• Winner – Best News Website Front Page: Daily Bruin staff for dailybruin.com
• Winner – Best Print Sports Section: Daily Bruin staff
• Winner – Best Feature/Entertainment/Literary Website Front Page: Daily Bruin staff for prime.dailybruin.com
• Winner – Best Multi-Outlet Breaking News Coverage: Daily Bruin staff for “SJP AND UC DIVEST COALITION DEMONSTRATIONS AT UCLA”
• Winner – Best Enterprise Coverage of Diversity: Daily Bruin staff for “‘It’s just a fact’: Understaffed CAE office fails to meet students’ needs”
• Winner – Best Profile: Alicia Carhee and Sam Mulick for “Cooking up community: The UCLA student behind Poom Thai Cuisine”
• Winner – Best Multimedia Sports Story: Isabelle Friedman for “Inside the culture that defines UCLA gymnastics’ viral floor routines”
• Winner – Best Newspaper Sports Page/Spread: Helen Quach for “Clash of the Quarterbacks”
• Winner – Best Magazine Contents Page/Spread: Maya O’Kelly for “Fall 2023 | Contents”
• Winner – Best Infographic: Miriam Johnson for “How to Have a Very Merry Valentine’s Day”
• Second place – Daily Newspaper of the Year (2–5 days per week): Daily Bruin staff
• Second place – Best Multimedia News Story: Saya Mueller for “Feast at Rieber celebrates Lunar New Year, serves traditional dishes with a twist”
• Second place – Best Breaking News Photo: Brandon Morquecho for “Gallery: Counter-protesters attack; police clear pro-Palestine encampment at UCLA”
• Second place – Best Newspaper Entertainment Page/Spread: Crystal Tompkins for “Sundance 2024”
• Second place – Best Video Newscast: Daily Bruin staff for “Inside the Westwood Homeless Count”
• Second place – Best Editorial Cartoon: Annabel Braunstein for “Editorial Cartoon: ‘Swept Under the Rug’”
• Third place – Best Breaking News Coverage of Diversity: Dylan Winward for “Pro-Palestine encampment features teach-ins, speeches as counter-protesters engage”
• Third place – Best Web Sports Section: Daily Bruin staff
• Third place – Best Sports Column: Jack Nelson for “Nelson’s Noggin”
• Third place – Best Special Section – Four Pages or Fewer: Daily Bruin staff for “Speaking STEM? It’s Not Rocket Science”
• Third place – Best Newspaper Feature Page/Spread: Helen Quach for “PRIME, The New News: How the Media is Attracting Young Readers”
• Third place – Best Newspaper Opinion Page/Spread: Helen Quach for “UCLA is complicit in violence inflicted upon protesters, failed to protect students”
• Third place – Best Podcast: Daily Bruin staff for “Bruin to Bruin: Cari Champion”
• Third place – Best Audio Sportscast: Daily Bruin staff for “Out of Bounds: Was DeShaun Foster the right choice to replace Chip Kelly at UCLA”
• Third place – Best Video Sportscast: Daily Bruin staff for “Out of Bounds: Should Chip Kelly be fired after UCLA’s Loss to Arizona”
• Honorable mention – Best News Package: Daily Bruin staff for “Speaking STEM? It’s Not Rocket Science”
• Honorable mention – Best Newspaper News Page/Spread: Lindsey Murto, Isabel Rubin-Saika and Mia Tavares for “Daily Bruin – April 26, front page”
• Honorable mention – Best Magazine Sports Page/Spread: Nhan Nguyen for “Not Just Athletes”
• Honorable mention – Best Newspaper Nameplate: Lindsey Murto for “Chip’s Ahoy”

Contributing reports from Sanjana Chadive, Ira Gorawara, Mia Tavares and Dylan Winward, Daily Bruin senior staff.